Once again Brazilians are up in arms about their disappointing national team. Their exit from the 2015 Copa America and the poor display’s that Dunga’s side produced at the tournament have generated national outcry some 365 days after their humiliating 1-7 reverse in Belo Horizonte at the hands of Germany. The Brazilian Football Federation (CBF) wanted a disciplinarian to oversee the team after the ‘Mineirazo’ against the Germans. However the problem with the national team seems to be deeper than a case of discipline, there is a deep flaw with the Brazilian national team’s style of play
The poor performance at the Copa has a name and surname for all Brazilians: Carlos Dunga. The coach was criticized heavily during the teams participation in the competition. The frustration focuses on the negative style of play employed by the coach and reached tipping point on Saturday night after the team was eliminated by Paraguay on penalties after missing chance after chance to finish off the game in normal time.
Dunga’s manner in accepting the Copa America exit hasn’t done him any favors in the popularity polls as he looked for reasons to justify the exit. “It’s not an excuse, but 15 players came down with a virus this week", he stated to the surprise of many as the likes of Filipe Luis, Coutinho and Robinho, claimed to know nothing about the matter.
However placing the brunt of the blame solely on Dunga would be unfair and the Brazilian public are aware of this. They players shoulder a great deal of responsibility too. Thiago Silva’s penalty against Paraguay was classed as “childish“and Neymar has been singled out too. A player who is supposed to lead the team and push them on cannot explode in the way he did in the tunnel with referee, Enrique Osses, after the Colombia match. Neymar left the squad high and dry when they most needed him. Brazil are now history at the 2015 Copa America.
Follow the Copa América timetable here.
And the day-to-day fixtures here.